Improvement in hair-triggers for fire-arms



P. F. CHARPIE.

Gun Lock.

No. 18,387. latented Oct. 13, 1857.

MPETERs, PHOTO-LII'HOGRAPNER, wAsmNa'mrL u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

P. F. OHARPIE, OF MOUNT VERNON, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAIR-TRIGGERS FOR FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,387, dated October13, 1857.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, P. F. CHARPIE, of Mount Vernon, in the county ofKnox and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement inHair-Triggers for Fire-Arms; and I I a spring to a single trigger,whereby it is enabled to act as a hair-trigger without the employment ofso many parts as there are in the ordinary hair-trigger or French set.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the trigger-plate.

B is the trigger, working through a slot in the plate A, and securedtherein by the pin a, on which it moves. This trigger is in its formmuch like a common trigger, but has a longer heel, b, and a notch, 0,under the heel, and has a short toe, d, in front, fitted with asetscrew, 6.

D is the spring, of slightly curved form, arranged in a mortise, g, inthe inner face of the plate A, and having its front end, f, entering thenotch c in the back of the trigger, and its iear end, h, bearing againstthe back end of mortise y, where the said end is confined by beingbeveled to fit to a bevel in the mortise, as shown in Fig. 1.

This trigger is set by placing the thumb or finger behind it and pushingit forward till the point of the screw 6 presses against the plate A, asshown in Fig. l in black outline, in which condition the frontextremity, f, of the spring is slightly below the line of culmination it, between the point It and the center of the pin a, and the spring,exerting its elasticity in a longitudinal direction or with a tendencyto straighten itself, forces the lower part of the trigger forward andholds down the heel b; but, by a pressure of the finger in front of thetrigger sufficient to move the point f of the spring upward beyond theline i i, the clasticity of the spring, instead of continuing to pushthe lower part of the trigger forward and holding down the heel, iscaused instantly to have an opposite effect, and acts to throw thetrigger suddenly to the position shown in red outline, and by thatmovement the heel b is caused to strike the sear and throw it out of thenotch on the tumbler. The spring is so arranged that when the trigger isin the latter position there is no strain upon it, and it lies looselyin its place, but that it begins to be bent as soon as the lower part ofthe trigger is moved forward. The sear and parts of the gun-lock notshown are substantially like those of a common gun-lock. The trigger isset to go off with a lighter touch by screwing up the screw 0, and viceversa. This screw may be screwed so far down as to make the trigger asstiff as a common trigger.

The great advantage of this trigger is its extreme simplicity ascompared with either the ordinary hair-trigger or the French set, whileit is equally certain in its action, more durable, and works with lessfriction.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The application of the curved spring D to work in a notch below the heelof the trigger in such a manner that by pushing the trigger forward toset it the said spring will be bent so as to develop its elasticitylongitudinally, or nearly so, and at the same time will be caused toexert a forward pressure on the trigger below its center-pin a, and thuskeep it set, but that when the trigger is slightly drawn back, thespring will exert a pressure above the center-pin a, and thus throw upthe heel suddenly, substantially as herein described.

l?. F. OHARPIE. lVitnesses:

W. M. MEFi oRD, W. H. COOHRAN.

